Weekly Legislative Updates

On Friday, April 10, the Oklahoma House of Representatives finished committee work on Senate legislation. The following legislative actions took place from April 1-10:
House Committee OKs Bill Allowing County Jail Mental Health Services
On Wednesday, April 8, the Oklahoma House Criminal Justice and Corrections Committee advanced legislation to expedite mental competency evaluations and treatment.
Senate Bill 715 would allow evaluation and treatment in county jails by state mental health professionals or third parties approved by the Department of Mental Health and ...

The Oklahoma House of Representatives is approaching another legislative deadline. On April 10, the House will finish committee work on Senate measures. The following legislative actions took place from March 23-31:
House Chamber Hosts Program Commemorating Magna Carta Exhibit at Capitol
On Tuesday, March 31, the Oklahoma House of Representatives chamber hosted a special program commemorating the 800th anniversary of one of the most enduring symbols of liberty and the rule of law, the Magna Carta.
The program featured Oklahoma City President Robert Henry and law ...

The Oklahoma House of Representatives is now working to review legislation approved by the Oklahoma Senate. The following pieces of legislation were approved by the House of Representatives during the first six weeks of the 55th Oklahoma Legislature:
House Approves Charter School Expansion to Rural Communities
On Tuesday, March 10, 2015, the Oklahoma House of Representatives approved legislation to allow charter schools in rural communities.
House Bill 1696 proposes to allow a school district or community college to sponsor a charter school located within the ...

Thursday, March 12, 2015, marked an important deadline of the 2015 legislative session. The Oklahoma House of Representatives concluded work on House-sponsored legislation and will now work to review measures approved by the Oklahoma Senate. The next important legislative deadline is the date by which legislation must be approved by both legislative chambers. After that deadline, bills will either go to the governor’s desk or continue onto conference committee to work out differences between the House and Senate.
The following are several major pieces of legislation ...

House Approves Child Welfare Reform
On Monday, the Oklahoma House of Representatives unanimously voted to improve the care of children in Oklahoma’s child welfare system.
House Bill 1078 expands a program that transitions children in the system into their adult lives, updates requirements for foster parents and group homes to ensure the child is engaged in typical childhood activities and revises protocols used to deal with runaways and child trafficking victims.
Under the legislation, a team model would be used to transition children into adulthood. The ...

House Approves DNA Collection Legislation
On Monday, the Oklahoma House of Representatives voted to improve the procedure for collecting DNA samples from those individuals convicted of a felony or violent misdemeanor.
House Bill 1683 allows the offices of district attorneys to collect the DNA sample from a convicted criminal. The DNA samples are submitted to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation Laboratory for processing and inclusion in the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS).
The OSBI estimates that the additional samples generated by increased collections ...

House Approves School Board Election Reform Legislation
On Monday, school board election reform legislation was approved by the Oklahoma House of Representatives.
House Bill 1275 pairs up election dates for school boards and municipalities with the intent of reducing election costs and encouraging greater voter participation.
The legislation was approved by a vote of 63-30 and now heads to the Oklahoma Senate for consideration.
House Budget Subcommittee Approves Medical Research Bill
On Monday, a measure to utilize Oklahoma’s Tobacco Settlement Fund to ...

House Approves Rx Drug Bill
On Monday, prescription drug monitoring legislation was approved by the Oklahoma House of Representatives by a vote of 64-30.
House Bill 1948 would require doctors to check a database of patient prescriptions to ensure people aren’t getting multiple prescriptions for addictive drugs from multiple doctors. The initial database check would be required when a doctor first writes a prescription for three classes of addictive drugs. Subsequent checks would need to be made at least once every 180 days after that.
A similar bill that failed ...

Governor Delivers 2015 State of the State Address
On Monday, Governor Mary Fallin delivered the annual State of the State Address in front of a joint session of the Oklahoma Legislature. In it, Fallin focused on the need to improve the state’s budgeting process. This year, legislators will only appropriate 47 percent of total Oklahoma tax receipts, down from 55 percent in 2007. That means legislators will have fewer total dollars to appropriate than in years past, despite the state collecting more total dollars.
The governor proposed adopting performance informed ...